


Pretend to Be Nice

by Taimae



Series: The Coffee Prince [1]
Category: Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side
Genre: Cheesy, F/M, Fluff, Trapped, Tropes, Tsunderes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2019-05-10 04:44:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14730170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taimae/pseuds/Taimae
Summary: A bad storm prevents Mizuki from leaving Sangosho.





	Pretend to Be Nice

**Author's Note:**

> Another one! This was actually my original premise for the One Word Prompt 'Glow', but I wasn't sure if it fit the theme as well as I wanted. But at the same time, I didn't want to abandon this work. So, here it is now! Enjoy! 
> 
> Apologies for any typos!

“Really? All bus service has been suspended? Surely the rain can’t be that bad…”

On cue, a flash of lighting dashed across the window, followed by a large, roaring boom that flickered the lights of the tiny café. Mizuki let out a slight yelp, nearly dropping her phone.

“Okay, well, thank you…” the red-head let out a disappointed sigh and then ended the call.

“So?” Saeki asked, not bothering to look up from the dishes he was drying.

“No luck,” she responded. “All buses are cancelled until the weather eases up a bit. And my parents still don’t seem to be answering,”

“Which means…” The white-haired teen lifted his head, his face going pale once he realized what it meant.

Alone. Together. For who knows how long.

Mizuki twisted her mouth disapprovingly as she saw him put down a cup. They weren’t exactly the best of friends, to put it mildly. His kindness was reserved for the customers of Sangosho and of course, his thrall of fan girls at school. It hadn’t been long since she had moved to the city, but she’d been around Saeki long enough to know that if they had to spend any more time together, there was no guarantee that the two of them would be alive the next day. 

“I’ll just walk home,” she said with a slight huff.

“In the dark? In this storm? By a beach with powerful, crashing waves?” Saeki tried to hold in a laugh as he leaned over the counter. “You really haven’t lived in a port city for awhile, have you?”

Ugh, she hated that smug smirk of his. He just thought he was so smart, didn’t he?

“It’s not that far. I can do it,” she said, insistently. It was just a little bit of rain! It was that or deal with his snarky comments the whole time. “The likeliness of being hit by lightning is one in seven million,”

“Mm-hmm,” he grinned. “And how has your luck been lately, Mizuki?”

“Bite me,” Mizuki responded, sticking her tongue out before she opened the large, wooden door and left. 

A wave of regret swept over her as soon as she went outside. She could already feel her body drenched from the heavy rainfall. Then there was the wind, almost powerful enough to sweep her up and take her away. This was less of a storm, and more of a typhoon. It was then that another crack of thunder and lightning erupted across the sky, shaking the ground beneath her.

She took another step and almost immediately, a bolt of lighting hit one of the trees nearby.

A soft whimper escaped her lips.

Sure, the statistics were one in seven million, but maybe… she shouldn’t tempt fate. Her horoscope did call for terrible luck this week. But, that would also mean she’d have to face Saeki’s stupid, smug face. It was truly a difficult choice to make. Mizuki leaned back on the large door and close her eyes. Lightning or Saeki, lightning or Saeki… 

The brunette then felt herself falling backwards, and right onto her bottom as the support behind her disappeared. The door was now wide open, with a familiar white-haired waiter towering over her.

“Oh good. I thought I missed the chance of seeing you get fried by lightning,”

Fine, it was Saeki this time.

“Whatever,” she huffed, standing back up properly and crossing her arms.

“Relax. I’m kidding,” Saeki replied, tilting his head slightly, motioning for her to come back inside. Mizuki puffed her cheeks, but obliged. She’d choose the coffee-prince over lightning for now. “Get in before anything _actually_ happens to you,”

That last big rumble must’ve knocked out the power, for Sangosho was almost pitch black. In the dark, it was quite eerie, like something out of a horror movie. Maybe her final nights would be here, trapped on a deserted beach with the person she hated the most in the whole entire world.

“Keeps getting better and better, huh?” Saeki said with an annoyed tone, most likely having the same thoughts as her.

Well, at least they were on the same wavelength.

Mizuki shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. She was only out for a short time, yet she was soaked from head to toe. She then felt a nudge to her shoulder in the dark and then something soft against her hand; a towel.

Reluctantly, she took it from Saeki’s hand before he walked passed her. Fine, sometimes he had basic decency, but that was about it. Nothing to get excited about.

“Did you really think you were going to make it home?” he asked while the sound of a cabinet opened in the background.

“I was willing to take the chance. You’re about as pleasant as a typhoon after all,” Mizuki could hear the boy let out a slight scoff, which couldn’t help but make her smile. She wanted to get in at least one jab in.

She then heard a scratching sound, soon followed by the slight sent of smoke. A match. It wasn’t before long that the soft glow of candles lit up the small café enough for her to walk without bumping into anything. Mizuki then slowly pulled off a stool from the counter and sat beside the boy.

Although the flames were small, they were greatly appreciated it. They were a pleasant sensation against her hands and cheeks.

“Thanks,” she finally mumbled and then wrapped the towel around her shoulders. She could see him shrug slightly.

“My grandfather would probably be mad I let something happen. For whatever reason, he seems to have taken a liking to you,”

“He must have good taste then,” Mizuki couldn’t help but beam. How they were related was beyond her. Saeki- _san_ was such a kind-hearted, cheery, giving and caring person. How he put up with Saeki- _kun_ ’s negatively was truly a gift.  

“Don’t get cocky,” the boy complained and then flicked her ear. She let out a small yelp.

“Why are you so mean to me?” she complained, puffing her cheeks. “You know, if the girls saw you being such a jerk they would think twice about having a fan club dedicated to you,” Actually, they’d probably still place him on a pedestal, but she wasn’t going to admit that.

“You’re easy to tease. Nearly anything winds you up and you always walk into it,” he responded in a very matter-of-fact tone.

“Well that just makes you a bully then,” she propped her chin up against the palm of her hand and twisted her mouth again as she looked away from the boy.

“So, would you rather I just give you the fake princess treatment like all the other girls?” he scoffed again.

“I’m just saying that it’s impossible for _all_ of your kindness to be a façade,”

Surely, he couldn’t only be nice because it was expected of him. There must’ve been a side to him that wanted to be kind just _because_.

Mizuki then felt a soft touch against her free arm. His fingertips lightly slid down her elbow to her hand. His fingers quickly locked with hers as he pulled it up towards his face. The reflection of the flames danced in his dark eyes as she looked back at him.

“ _Ojousama_ ,” he started, his princely tone coming out full swing. “If I did anything to offend you-”

“Ew, _stop_ ,” she said, making a disgusted face.

“You told me you wanted me to be nice; I’m trying to be nice,” Saeki said, his voice full of his usual irritation. Even in the darkness, she could tell that his right eyebrow was twitching ever so slightly.

“This isn’t nice! It’s just weird!” how did his fan club find this charming!? She took it back, she didn’t want him to be nice if he was going to be so weird.

Perhaps she shouldn’t have pulled her hand back as hard as she did, for she quickly felt her tilt backwards. Her balance really was terrible tonight, wasn’t it?

“Wah!” Mizuki quickly shut her eyes, expecting the hard impact of the wooden floor against her head.

 But instead of feeling immediate pain, she felt her arm yanked again to try and stop her from falling, but instead, the force fell along with her. At least it slowed her down enough that it wasn’t painful. Just a surprise.

When she opened her eyes, she saw leaning only slight over her was Saeki, propping himself up with one arm. The soft glow from the candles partially lit up his features. Mizuki hated to admit it, but she could sort of get why the girls at school fawned over him. His tanned skin, his chiselled features, the way his white strands fell over his face…

It’s a good thing that it was dark enough that her flushed cheeks weren’t apparent. They haven’t been this close since that time they were walking home and-

It was then that the lights flickered on, lighting up the restaurant again.

“You’re a real klutz, you know that?” Saeki muttered as he quickly pushed himself off her and stood up.

“It’s not my fault! You were being super weird,” she protested. Her flushed cheeks finally returned to their regular colour. Right. No matter how _cute_ he was, he was still Saeki Teru.    

She could then hear a buzzing followed by a jingle; Her cellphone. She quickly dug into pocket and scrambled to answer it.

“Hello? Oh Dad!” she quickly said with a sigh of relief. “Yeah, I’m okay. I’m still at the café, the buses are cancelled. I might have to stay the night if the weather doesn’t get better,”

Her brown eyes glanced back over at Saeki who had his back turned away from her as he put the candles away. “Yeah, I’m with Saeki-kun. Mmm? No, his grandfather had some business out of the city. Alone? Yeah. No-wait, Dad, it’s not like that-Dad, calm down,” it was too late. She winced as she could already hear him lecture her at top speed.

“… He’ll be coming to pick me up in a bit. It’s supposed to rain less in a half hour,” she let out a long sigh as she ended the call. It was probably a good idea. Not that she would ever do anything with Saeki! But… still.

“Right. That’s good,” Saeki said a little absent mindedly.

“You don’t have to stick around you know,” she added. “I think you’ve done enough. So uh, you can go upstairs,” His room was somewhere there, wasn’t it?

He let out a long sigh before looking up at the ceiling. Who knew what he was thinking.

 “…Get home safe,” he finally said under his breath before quickly walking up the stairs.

Huh.

That might’ve been the first time he’s ever properly expressed concern for her.

Maybe he _was_ nice.


End file.
